Olympus D-590

If you’re new to the world of digital photography, the Olympus D-580 offers just the right blend of easy-to-use features and high-quality optics that delivers vivid pictures. The D-580 Zoom has a durable polycarbonate body with an attractive metallic accent on its sliding protective clamshell lens barrier. It also features a 4-megapixel resolution, 3x optical zoom, movie mode with sound, a bright LCD monitor to review images, and Olympus’s new TruePic Turbo image processor, which speeds up the camera’s start-up, shutter lag, recording and playback time.

Optics and Resolution The 4-megapixel D-580 captures 2288 x 1712 pixel images for prints up to 11 x 14 inches. It also has 1600 x 1200 (2MP) and 640 x 480 (VGA) resolution modes. It features a 3x optical zoom that, when combined with a 4x digital zoom, delivers a total seamless 12x zoom. The aspherical all-glass zoom lens is constructed of 7 lenses in 6 groups and has a focal length of 5.8-17.4mm (35-105mm equivalent in 35mm photography) and an aperture range of f3.1-f5.2.

Movie Mode and Audio In addition to capturing still images, you can also shoot short videos with sound (its companion D-540 has no sound capabilities) at 15 frames per second (fps). The D-580 has two resolution modes: 320 x 240 and 160 x 120. The built-in microphone can also capture short memos that can be appended to each message

More Features The D-580 is one of the first Olympus models to feature TruePic Turbo, a new image processor that sharpens image clarity, contrast, and color for life-like results. This feature also makes the camera 30% faster in processing images and is combined with a super-fast shutter release time.

The D-580 offers a menu architecture that’s easy to navigate for fast access to the right settings with just the press of arrow buttons. Seven preset shooting modes can be accessed through the “Virtual Dial” (viewable through the LCD menu) to provide fully automatic exposure adjustments; these include Program Auto, Portrait, Portrait-Landscape, Landscape, Night Scene, Self Portrait, and Movie.

Other features include:

1.8-inch TFT color LCD monitor (approximately 85,000 pixels)

Optical real-image viewfinder

1.5 frames per second burst up to 12 frames

Built-in flash with auto, red-eye reduction, fill-in, and off modes

Direct Printing The D-580 is PictBridge compatible, which enables you to transfer pictures from your digital camera to a compatible printer (such as the Olympus P-10), without a PC or image-editing software. All PictBridge devices share three basic features: camera-to-printer connecting, single-image printing, and uniform error messages (in case something goes wrong).

Storage and Transfer Images are stored on XD Picture Card memory cards. The card’s small size, about the same as a postage stamp, helps to keep the camera size down. The included 16 MB card will store approximately 16 images at 2288 x 1712 pixels (at HQ, JPEG setting). Images can be downloaded to either a Mac or PC via USB 1.1 connectivity, which means the camera can be connected to any USB-based Windows 98 Rev2Me/2000/XP and Mac OS 8.6 or later computer without installing any software.